University graduates and their families and friends gathered at McArthur Courton June 16, for the University’s main commencement ceremony.
The event, which is separate from individual department ceremonies, honored the graduates from every department and gave special recognition to the year’s recipients of doctoral degrees.
“You all have received a very great gift,” Oregon University System Vice Chancellor Susan Weeks said. “Now you are emerging smarter, wiser and empowered to take your place in the world.”
Students did not receive their diplomas at the ceremony, which featured guest speakers and focused on honoring students. Only graduates receiving doctoral degrees were called up to receive their degrees.
In addition to honoring students, Senior Vice President and Provost Linda Brady announced faculty awards, including the Thomas F. Herman Faculty Achievement Awards for Distinguished Teaching and the Ersted Award for Distinguished Teaching.
The Thomas F. Herman Awards honor senior faculty members and this year it went to Robert Donald Clark Honors College associate professor Joseph G. Fracchia and associate professor of musicology Marian E. Smith.
The Ersted Award honors faculty members “who have taught comparatively short periods and have demonstrated exceptional abilities.” This year’s recipient was Leah Middlebrook, an associate professor from the Comparative Literature Program.
After all the awards had been announced, the ceremony moved on to the commencement address. Associate law professor Michael Moffitt served as this year’s commencement speaker .
As the associate director of the law school’s Appropriate Dispute Resolution Center, Moffitt focused on the element of surprise and the conflicts it sometimes causes.
“Surprises get a bum wrap, especially in an educational setting,” he said, adding that being surprised is usually equated with being unprepared or unintelligent.
He then asked the Mac Court audience to participate in an activity designed to encourage being open to surprises.
He asked audience members to look around the room for green items and then urged them to list items that were blue.
“We can affect what our brains pay attention to,” he said.
Then he asked the audience to participate in a longer-term exercise. He instructed people to close their eyes, and then when they opened their eyes, to look for things they may have missed before.
“Look in particular for things you might have missed. Look specifically for surprises,” he said. “This quiz will last considerably longer than the first one.”
Graduating senior Malerie McCarty liked Moffitt’s speech.
“I thought he was good; I really liked the ending,” she said. “It was really interactive.”
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